Revealed: The 12-year-old heroine who saved 'miracle' boy plucked from the sea after spending 20 minutes under water

A 12-year-old boy who nearly drowned in the Pacific Ocean has used some of his first words after his ordeal to thank a girl who helped to save him.

Photographs captured the moment Charles 'Dale' Ostrander was pulled out of a riptide north of Long Beach unconscious and without a pulse on Friday, after spending as much as 20 minutes underwater without oxygen.

As Dale flailed in the turbulent waves of the Pacific, Nicole Kissel, also 12, put her life on the line to save him.

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'Thank you': Dale Ostrander uttered a couple of words to Nicole Kissel, pictured, as she visited him in hospital after helping to rescue him

Rescue swimmers Eddie Mendez, left, and Will Green return Charles 'Dale' Ostrander to the shore after the youngster got caught in a riptide north of Long Beach, Washington, on Friday

After stunning doctors by waking from his coma, Dale uttered the words ‘Thank you’ as the girl visited him in hospital yesterday.

Nicole Kissel's daring actions provided rescue crews with what turned out to be a crucial extension of time.

Charles 'Dale' Ostrander has amazed medical experts after regaining consciousness and speaking for the first time since the accident

After hearing Dale's call for help
Friday, Nicole immediately turned her boogie board toward deeper waters
despite the objections of her father, who shouted over the crashing
waves about the dangerous conditions.

Nicole managed to reach Dale, who was struggling to stay afloat, and helped him onto the three-foot board.

Together, the two youths struggled against the rip current that had turned an average day at a popular beach into chaos.

‘When we were on that board, I kind of shouted out to myself, “We're going to die. I can't die like this”,’ said Nicole.

A rogue wave slammed into the pair, knocking them off the board. Nicole managed to get back up, but Dale disappeared back into the surf.

Rescuers searched for over 15 minutes before they found Dale's lifeless body floating in the water.

Medics started CPR. Finally, after Dale reached a nearby hospital, his pulse returned.

After her visit to hospital yesterday, Nicole said that Dale seemed to have trouble focusing his eyes for most of their 15-minute reunion.

But as she left, he made eye contact for the first time and said, ‘Thank you.’

Dale’s parents, Chad and Kristen Ostrander, were warned if he survived he could suffer permanent brain damage.

Telling her story: Darlene Terry, left, touches the arm of her granddaughter, Nicole Kissel, 12, as Kissel tells how she attempted to rescue Dale Ostrander

But incredibly he woke from a coma on Monday, and stunned them when he spoke his first words.

'They never expected him to live. They expected him to be a vegetable, never walk, never talk, never say a word and that would be fine,' the boy's father, Chad Ostrander said, recalling doctors' dismal prognosis at a press conference today.

Doctors put Dale in an induced coma and expressed concern about swelling in his brain.

The Ostranders have kept vigil at
their son's hospital bedside since Friday, and on Sunday, Mr Ostrander
said, Dale opened his eyes as he was eased off sedatives.

Parents Chad and Kristen Ostrander said their son's condition has drastically improved at a press conference this afternoon

On Monday, he said a handful of words to his parents.

Matriarch Kristen Ostrander recalled: 'We were trying to get him to cough, and he did, and we told him to do it more. "I don't need to" is what he said. First thing, everybody, he spoke, a whole sentence. It was amazing.'

The Ostrandes credited prayer with their son's incredible recovery.

'Honestly we maintained that no matter what happens everything will be good because we have a strong faith in God... Maybe there is a miracle that's happening here,' Mr Ostrander said.

The Ostranders also paid thanks to
the rescue crew. Doug Knutzen is part of the volunteer surf rescue team
that spotted the boy in the water. When Knutzen carried Dale from the
surf and handed him to medics, the veteran rescuer admitted he too
feared the worst.

'I've been doing this since 1978,' Mr Knutzen told The Oregonian.

Rescue swimmers searched for the 12-year-old a full 15 minutes before locating him and bringing him to safety

'It's something you never get used to, but I knew that the boy was gone, absolutely gone.'

Recording the scene was Damian Mulinix, a photographer from the Chinook Observer newspaper who had responded to the beach rescue. He says the other children from the church group sobbed and prayed as Dale was carried to shore.

'They were crying, face-down on the ground, praying - it was a heart-wrenching scene,' Mr Mulinix said.

Doctors have cautioned his parents that even if Dale survives, he could have permanent brain damage.

The physicians 'were very clear that he had been under for too long, had been without oxygen for too long,' Kirsten Ostrander said earlier, adding, 'We trust (God) no matter what.

'If he chooses to take Dale to heaven, and if he still chooses that, then he's still good,' she said.

'And if he chooses to bless us and give us back our son, he's still good.